Trains 5 and 6 in California Jan 20 - Service Disruption

[Tennessee Traveler]

Also, not only do they have to restock the train in Oakland for the return trip, the on board staff returns as the on board staff on number 6 and they must take 8 hours rest before resuming the return trip. All the Zephyr on board crews are based in Chicago. One of the sleeping car attendants told me they originate in Chicago with train 5 traveling three days to Emeryville and Amtrak places them in a hotel in Oakland overnight and then they work the next day's train 6 taking another three days to return to Chicago. Once they arrive in Chicago they then have six or seven days off before repeating the process over again. There are fluctuations but most of the same staff work together each trip. There are about 13 crews and although I ride two or three times a year, I've only had one sleeping car attendant twice. Always seem like I meet a new crew every trip.

I know it was long winded but that helps to explain why train 6's originating time depends on the arrival time of train 5 each late afternoon.. One train 5 arrived at 6am this week so there was no way for train 6 to leave before around 2 to 3 PM. Fortunately, since each train 5's crew originates in Chicago and extra equipment is available in Chicago the departure time 2PM is almost always made.

 

[lo2e]

This appears to be a fairly rare occurrence that 6(23) and 6(24) are actually in neighboring states at this moment - Colorado and Utah respectively. Granted 6(23) is almost into Nebraska and 6(24) is just beyond SLC, but close enough!

 

[chakk]

And today's #5(20) just arrived on the Truckee webcam -- 8 hrs, 15 min late.

chakk, is this the Truckee webcam to view Amtrak movement?
http://tahoetopia.com/webcam/downtown-truckee

Yep. Amtrak station is the yellow building in the right center of the image, just beyond the red building.

 

[chakk]

I have seen the same SCAs and dining car crews a few times, but more frequent has been with same conductors on the CZ in Calif or Colo.

My favorite was a conductor who worked #6 and the next morning's #5 between Reno and Winnemucca. Sadly, she was killed several years ago when #5 was broad-sided in the transition sleeper by a cement hauler in western Nevada.

 

[Thirdrail7]

Also, not only do they have to restock the train in Oakland for the return trip, the on board staff returns as the on board staff on number 6 and they must take 8 hours rest before resuming the return trip.

For the record, OBS crews do not require 8 hours rest between runs. They are not governed by Hours Of Service laws. The train and engine crew members may need 8 hours off before their return trip but that depends on the actual run, time off, etc.

 

[chakk]

Expecting another 6 feet of snow accumulation at Donner Pass over the next 36 hours

And the Mammoth Mountain Ski Resort southeast of Donner Pass has received 20 feet of snow so far in January.

 

[CCC1007]

I have seen the same SCAs and dining car crews a few times, but more frequent has been with same conductors on the CZ in Calif or Colo.

My favorite was a conductor who worked #6 and the next morning's #5 between Reno and Winnemucca. Sadly, she was killed several years ago when #5 was broad-sided in the transition sleeper by a cement hauler in western Nevada.

I thought it was a side dump type of trailers...

 

[chakk]

I have seen the same SCAs and dining car crews a few times, but more frequent has been with same conductors on the CZ in Calif or Colo.

My favorite was a conductor who worked #6 and the next morning's #5 between Reno and Winnemucca. Sadly, she was killed several years ago when #5 was broad-sided in the transition sleeper by a cement hauler in western Nevada.

I thought it was a side dump type of trailers...

Yes, You are correct; it was a few side-dump trailers being pulled by a separate cab. The NTSB report is available on the Internet describing the details of the collision.

 

[Triley]

I have seen the same SCAs and dining car crews a few times, but more frequent has been with same conductors on the CZ in Calif or Colo.

My favorite was a conductor who worked #6 and the next morning's #5 between Reno and Winnemucca. Sadly, she was killed several years ago when #5 was broad-sided in the transition sleeper by a cement hauler in western Nevada.

This is one of the events we discussed in class to prepare us for the many possibilities of working on the railroad. It can get quite terrifying if you think about it you much.

I can't imagine how the crew felt, and how they managed to pull themselves together and take care of the passengers knowing one of their own had perished. Call me selfish, but I hope I am never put in to a situation quite that serious.

 

[PaulM]

This is one of the events we discussed in class to prepare us for the many possibilities of working on the railroad. It can get quite terrifying if you think about it you much.

I've always worked on the assumption that it is more terrifying geting into a car than a train?

 

[KmH]

Yep. Federal Hours-of-Service rules do not apply to OBS (On Board Staff)

The Federal Hours-of-Service do apply to Conductors, Engineers and other railroad employees - https://www.fra.dot.gov/Page/P0541 - responsible for the safe operation of the train and the railroad infrasctructure.

 

[Karl1459]

This is one of the events we discussed in class to prepare us for the many possibilities of working on the railroad. It can get quite terrifying if you think about it you much.

I've always worked on the assumption that it is more terrifying geting into a car than a train?

Most drivers are clueless as to what can happen, and how quickly. And when it does happen its either someone elses fault, or someone should have told them not do do what they did. Railroads (and airlines) have there stringent rules for a reason. And many of those rules are only broken once... either the boss gets you or the impact with a heavy object.

 

[Triley]

This is one of the events we discussed in class to prepare us for the many possibilities of working on the railroad. It can get quite terrifying if you think about it you much.

I've always worked on the assumption that it is more terrifying geting into a car than a train?

You need to consider that I spend far more time onboard trains than I do combining all other modes of transportation. I cover upwards of 6,000 miles every month or month and a half on an average. During the busier months I could cover probably 8000-10000 in a month. And in the two years I've been with the company I have traveled north past the 188 site the night before it happened, and was the second southbound (Amtrak revenue) train past the site. I've seen the Vermonter be derailed by a rockslide, 67 (a train I work frequently) strike a truck at 100+mph and rip up the new baggage car (I happened to be working in the yard the morning it was towed in to the yard in Boston). I've worked a train where a train had a fatality an hour behind me, then an hour later, a train about 45 minutes ahead of me had a fatality as well. One of my classmates, who doesn't seem phased by much, had a fatality last year and was visibly shaken (keep in mind...T&E employees get 3 days of relief following a fatality, OBS crews are expected to continue on their shift like nothing happened). Of course I'm leaving out many other incidents such as the MetroLink accident, track workers being struck last year, Hoboken, etc.

I guess it may rattle me a little more than employees elsewhere in the company because not only do we have some busy crossings from Westerly to Old Saybrook, but I also run at speeds of up to 150mph, which could be quite devastating if something were to go wrong.

I'm leaving out the things such as a death I had onboard, the times I've been called racist, found someone behind my counter trying to steal stock, been screamed at/taken verbal abuse. Oh, and everything except the death onboard, I was in the Cafe car with no other employee present, so I'm left to fend for myself with no radio or quick way to contact the rest of the crew.

 

[bmjhagen9426]

This is one of the events we discussed in class to prepare us for the many possibilities of working on the railroad. It can get quite terrifying if you think about it you much.

I've always worked on the assumption that it is more terrifying geting into a car than a train?

You need to consider that I spend far more time onboard trains than I do combining all other modes of transportation. I cover upwards of 6,000 miles every month or month and a half on an average. During the busier months I could cover probably 8000-10000 in a month. And in the two years I've been with the company I have traveled north past the 188 site the night before it happened, and was the second southbound (Amtrak revenue) train past the site. I've seen the Vermonter be derailed by a rockslide, 67 (a train I work frequently) strike a truck at 100+mph and rip up the new baggage car (I happened to be working in the yard the morning it was towed in to the yard in Boston). I've worked a train where a train had a fatality an hour behind me, then an hour later, a train about 45 minutes ahead of me had a fatality as well. One of my classmates, who doesn't seem phased by much, had a fatality last year and was visibly shaken (keep in mind...T&E employees get 3 days of relief following a fatality, OBS crews are expected to continue on their shift like nothing happened). Of course I'm leaving out many other incidents such as the MetroLink accident, track workers being struck last year, Hoboken, etc.

I guess it may rattle me a little more than employees elsewhere in the company because not only do we have some busy crossings from Westerly to Old Saybrook, but I also run at speeds of up to 150mph, which could be quite devastating if something were to go wrong.

I'm leaving out the things such as a death I had onboard, the times I've been called racist, found someone behind my counter trying to steal stock, been screamed at/taken verbal abuse. Oh, and everything except the death onboard, I was in the Cafe car with no other employee present, so I'm left to fend for myself with no radio or quick way to contact the rest of the crew.

A class that RR employees take, sounds like a boot camp to me. Working in the RR industry is definitely not for the weak-hearted, as I would imagine it being full of surprises. If I were to decide that I would seek to be a RR worker, would writing a will once I'm in help, in case something terrible were to happen?

 

[Triley]

This is one of the events we discussed in class to prepare us for the many possibilities of working on the railroad. It can get quite terrifying if you think about it you much.

I've always worked on the assumption that it is more terrifying geting into a car than a train?

You need to consider that I spend far more time onboard trains than I do combining all other modes of transportation. I cover upwards of 6,000 miles every month or month and a half on an average. During the busier months I could cover probably 8000-10000 in a month. And in the two years I've been with the company I have traveled north past the 188 site the night before it happened, and was the second southbound (Amtrak revenue) train past the site. I've seen the Vermonter be derailed by a rockslide, 67 (a train I work frequently) strike a truck at 100+mph and rip up the new baggage car (I happened to be working in the yard the morning it was towed in to the yard in Boston). I've worked a train where a train had a fatality an hour behind me, then an hour later, a train about 45 minutes ahead of me had a fatality as well. One of my classmates, who doesn't seem phased by much, had a fatality last year and was visibly shaken (keep in mind...T&E employees get 3 days of relief following a fatality, OBS crews are expected to continue on their shift like nothing happened). Of course I'm leaving out many other incidents such as the MetroLink accident, track workers being struck last year, Hoboken, etc.

I guess it may rattle me a little more than employees elsewhere in the company because not only do we have some busy crossings from Westerly to Old Saybrook, but I also run at speeds of up to 150mph, which could be quite devastating if something were to go wrong.

I'm leaving out the things such as a death I had onboard, the times I've been called racist, found someone behind my counter trying to steal stock, been screamed at/taken verbal abuse. Oh, and everything except the death onboard, I was in the Cafe car with no other employee present, so I'm left to fend for myself with no radio or quick way to contact the rest of the crew.

A class that RR employees take, sounds like a boot camp to me. Working in the RR industry is definitely not for the weak-hearted, as I would imagine it being full of surprises. If I were to decide that I would seek to be a RR worker, would writing a will once I'm in help, in case something terrible were to happen?

I'll send you a PM, so I don't take this thread off-topic any further.

 

[Rover]

And today's #5(20) just arrived on the Truckee webcam -- 8 hrs, 15 min late.

chakk, is this the Truckee webcam to view Amtrak movement?
http://tahoetopia.com/webcam/downtown-truckee

Yep. Amtrak station is the yellow building in the right center of the image, just beyond the red building.

I saw the #6 leaving today at 4:20pm PST on the Truckee web cam. It was a clear day, and, the other Tahoetopia web cams had the setting sun highlighting the Sierras.

Then, Sat. morning, at 9:32am PST the # 5 arrived. I would guess that the #6 was twice as long as the #5.

 

[Tennessee Traveler]

And today's #5(20) just arrived on the Truckee webcam -- 8 hrs, 15 min late.

chakk, is this the Truckee webcam to view Amtrak movement?
http://tahoetopia.com/webcam/downtown-truckee

Yep. Amtrak station is the yellow building in the right center of the image, just beyond the red building.

I saw the #6 leaving today at 4:20pm PST on the Truckee web cam. It was a clear day, and, the other Tahoetopia web cams had the setting sun highlighting the Sierras.

Then, Sat. morning, at 9:32am PST the # 5 arrived. I would guess that the #6 was twice as long as the #5.

The extra equipment on the twice as long CZ 5 was the extra set of equipment that had be be pulled back to Emeryville after it failed to cross the Sierras. No passengers or OBS crew was on that train.

 

[Rover]

And today's #5(20) just arrived on the Truckee webcam -- 8 hrs, 15 min late.

chakk, is this the Truckee webcam to view Amtrak movement?
http://tahoetopia.com/webcam/downtown-truckee

Yep. Amtrak station is the yellow building in the right center of the image, just beyond the red building.

I saw the #6 leaving today at 4:20pm PST on the Truckee web cam. It was a clear day, and, the other Tahoetopia web cams had the setting sun highlighting the Sierras.

Then, Sat. morning, at 9:32am PST the # 5 arrived. I would guess that the #6 was twice as long as the #5.

The extra equipment on the twice as long CZ 5 was the extra set of equipment that had be be pulled back to Emeryville after it failed to cross the Sierras. No passengers or OBS crew was on that train.

Tuesday night, Jan. 31st, at about 11:58PM PST, I caught the tail end of a train going eastbound on the Truckee web cam. I thought I saw a caboose. The #6 had already gone through earlier Tuesday afternoon. I don't think that was a freight train, but, I just saw the tail end of it.

Are there excursion trains that would be running through Truckee near midnight??

 

[bmjhagen9426]

I don't know, but another round of storms are approaching. It will be interesting how it plays out, although it does not seem as heavy compared to a few weeks ago.

 

[chakk]

Probably was a work train with Jordan spreader or other track-clearing equipment preparing for the next major snowstorm arriving Thursday.

 

[Rover]

I have noticed that the #6, starts and then stops over Bridge St. in Truckee, for 7-10 minutes on several occasions.

Is this stop to allow passengers to board cars at the rear of the train??

 

[chakk]

In winter especially, the walkway trainside is only shoveled free of snow for one or two car lengths. So one stop for coach passengers and a second stop for sleeping car passengers is often required.

And if any Truckee passengers are booked into the transition sleeper at the front of the train, a third stop may be required.

 

[Tennessee Traveler]

Yes, when I came through Truckee westbound January 27 we made two positioning stops. There was so much snow I doubt there was even a path more than five feet wide to the station door. I've never traveled over the Sierras or other mountains in such awe inspiring snow pack and Truckee looks like it was buried in snow with icicles forming an outside wall to some of the building near the station stop.